United Republics of North Sourceland
The United Republics of North Sourceland (abbreviated "URN") is a fictional Federation of republics, formed in the later half of the Colonial Era. The membership Republics were largely former vassal-states of various Westerland nations, having originally been colonized by the Westerlands, and is part of the Orlesian Commonwealth and the greater Source Lands Setting. * The informal name of the URN is "the Union Republic", and is commonly used in semi-formal documents and speech, whereas "the Republic" is a common informal term used by citizens of the URN (as is the use of the abbreviation itself), as opposed to "the Union", which it is referred to by Midlanders (citizens of the largest Republic in the URN - the Allied Midsourceland Territories). Members The URN began with 15 Republics, but many quickly merged with each other, and by the end of the Colonial Era, there were only 7 Republics. * Nova-Orlais * Malbon * Novenarra * AMT * Kaerenth * Rivis * Stoneridge History The URN formed in the aftermath of a rebellion against the Orlesian Viceroy, Richard Toloren II, who ruled the "Orlesian Colony" (a nickname used for the only colony that was under direct control of Orlais between the beginning of the Post-Imperial Era and the Colonial Era - officially named "The Territory of Nova-Orlais", and informally known just as "New Orlais"). Background In order to understand the events that lead up to the formation of the URN, it is necessary to understand the history behind those events. Colonization of North Sourceland During the Imperial Era, Orlais was a powerful province of the Empire, and came to be virtually self-ruling. Orlais employed a significant number of Nordmarians after finally securing a semblance of peace with the their Northern neighbors, and the Nordmarians were the ones who initially had discovered the Sourcelands, and Orlais employed a significant number of Nordmarians to begin an Imperial Colonization effort. * When the North Sourceland continent was initially found, it was originally referred to, simply as "the New World", and it was not known that the North Sourceland continent, and the South Sourceland Continent were separated by the Skylands. * The Province of Rivera, at this time quite large, was in a nearly identical situation as Orlais - except many Riverans were actually Nordmarian Settlers, and Rivera began its own settlement effort. * Noverra, an equally powerful Province, attempted to copy their Orlesian Rivals, but did not have a favorable relationship with the Nordmarians, and ended up colonizing the South Sourceland Continent, though unaware they had discovered a completely different continent. The Riveran Colonies The Riveran Colonies were established south of the Orlesian Colonies, and the agenda of the Riveran Colonists was to make a suitable road across the continent to gain access to trading with the Orient, and lay claim to trade-routes before Noverrans or Orlesians could do so. The continent proved much wider than first anticipated, and successful trading routes were established elsewhere, leading to abandonment of the the project, and the Riveran colony quickly became a farming-belt across their little strip of the continent. Imperial Foothold A member of a Cadet-Branch to the Mithlander Dynasty, named Aethur Taros-Mithlander, had originally started his own settlement by Imperial Edict, to ensure that Orlais and Noverra did not become too powerful. Ultimately, he established the tradeport of Ardenne, which was actually the first capital of the Imperial New-World Colonies (according to Estheim, this is still the formal name for all Colonies across either Sourceland Contient), and began managing all colonies and bankrolled many of the colony advances, and was largely responsible for the heavy influx of Carnalan and Markland immigration movements, in an attempt to reduce Orlesian control. The Collapse The Collapse of the Empire, though never formalized, resulted in suspension of the Settlement effort, also severely hindered by the Third Demonic Scourge (demonic scourges are occurrences in the setting lore that have widespread results very akin to plagues from real-world history, resulting in dramatic drops in population count), and as a result, the settlers were abandoned and forced to carve out an existence largely built upon old trading posts and Imperial Forts, which resulted in the eruption of Feudal Governments that could not agree where their alliances were. Orlesian Foothold Nova-Valier, originally Thorven's Landing (named after the Lord Commander of the Orlesian Settlement effort), remained completely loyal to Orlais and demanded loyalty from the various settlements that he felt he could reasonably lay claim to. For his loyalty, Thorven Toloren I was made Viceroy of Orlesian New-World Colonies and Governor of The Territory of Nova-Orlais, and renamed his city "Nova-Valier" (informally called "Vali" - pronounced "valley"). * Nova-Orlais started as a territory, but when the URN later formed, it became a Republic in the URN, starting out as the largest republic, but was soon beaten by both the AMT and Novenarra (all three relatively close in size, though the AMT is arguably a considerable size larger than Nova-Orlais). It remained the most populated Republic until Novenarra joined (a close second), followed by the AMT (a slightly more distant third), but has always been credited as having the best and most well-functioning infrastructure of all the Republics, and remains the seat of the Capital. Loss of Imperial Control During the Third Demonic Scourge, Aethur Taros-Mithlander's great-grand son, Joventus Taros-Mithlander, largely suspended all management of the colonies and began the construction of fortifications in an attempt at creating a suitable landing post for Imperial Troops, as the Empire of Estheim struggled to find ways to repel the Third Demonic Scourge, and was trying to rally troops from their disobedient vassals. Ultimately, Joventus failed to accomplish anything other than losing control of his subjects and his son, Constantin Taros-Mithlander, became the first Prince of Ardenne, an Imperial Principality and vassal of Estheim, as Nova-Valier simultaneously became the new de-facto capital of the North Sourcelands. Discovery of the Skylands Noverra and Rivera had an agreement that both would push in opposite directions, to attempt to meet in the middle, and there was a formal wager made between respective rulers (at the time of accomplishment, long dead) during times of friendship regarding who would conquer the most land during this push. Noverra was a much more militant state than Rivera, and the standing orders that had been given by the ruler, Leopold II, were still being obeyed long after his death - even though the colonies had been somewhat abandoned - and this lead to the Noverrans discovering the Skylands. * The Noverrans sailed around the Skylands and established a foothold in the Midlands (the somewhat poorly chosen name for the southern part of the North Sourceland Cotinent, named as such in an attempt to lend legitimacy to Noverran rule over these lands, as it was initially claimed to be a part of a greater territory extending across the Skylands and also including the Northern part of the South Sourceland Continent. * Historians agree that the discovery of the Skylands reignited the Colony efforts of the Westerlands, starting the metaphorical Gold-rush for the Skylands, and giving beginning the Colonial Era. Orlesian Push The Orlesians could not risk Rivera and Noverra becoming neighbors in the Sourceland Colonies, as the Riverans would likely give the Noverrans the one thing their stretched military colony needed the most - access to rich farming lands, so they quickly summoned up their navy and with one sudden move, reignited the Colonial Effort, and wedged themselves in between the advancing Noverrans and their Riveran neighbors - a move that greatly enraged Rivera, leading to some Rahamran Colony Wars. * This was largely an ongoing subtle effort that included large amounts of espionage, coercion, corruption and other underhanded stately affairs, lasting through several generations, and the Orlesian Push did not truly end until after the Great Northern Rebellion had ended. * In an effort to establish legitimacy for their actions, Orlesians made a political push to regain control over their de-jure vassals in the North Sourcland Continent, and this resulted in a number of plots unfolding, as schemers conspired to bring the vassals back under foot. First Midland War The Noverrans needed access to Riveran borders to trade freely and unimpeded by sanctions and tariffs dictated by Orlais, so they were very eager to fight the Orlesians, but the stretched military of the Noverran Colonists could not match the Orlesian ground-forces, so they could not attack, but they did settle Segovia and built such impressive naval fortifications that the might of the dreaded Orlesian Navy could never threaten the city - unfortunately, Orlais was so determined to win the Midlands for themselves, that they actually launched a full-scale ground-invasion and took almost all of the Midlands, except for Novenarra. Formation of the Allied Midsourceland Territories When all was said in the First Midland War, a large number of Orlesian Officers had been mobilized in an unusual manner and were rewarded with extremely large quantities of untaxed and unregulated land, becoming the first Land Barons, and the King of Orlais quickly regretted this decision and tried going back on his word, as it undermined the purpose of war-effort to effectively throw away his right to rule over most of the Midland area, but this provoked the Land Barons into action, and they formed the Allied Midsourceland Territories (abbreviated "AMT"), a Republic ruled out of Segovia, and when the Land Barons became wide to the Orlesian Push, they open began to prepare for secession from Orlais entirely. The Great Northern Rebellion The plots set in motion by Orlais to regain control of their vassals in Northern Orlais were foiled by the Principality of Ardenne, which had forged alliances with various nobles around the vassal-states, and ultimately bank-rolled a rebellion, and was met by a prompt Orlesian response, and became a very historical battle, pitting iron-clad knights with swords and shields against musket-wielding formations of infantrymen and artillery, truly marking the change in technology that came with the transition into the Colonial Era. * The Rebellion was not formally lead by Ardenne, however, who used an agent named Thane Sarwyck, who acted on behalf of his older brother, Edrik Sarwyck, who was the Baron of Jorah's Vale - now a Native Protectorate known informally as "the Kingdom of Rocks and Trees". Purchase of Riveran Colonies The Great Northern Rebellion hinged on an alliance between the Northern Rebels and the AMT, who both sought to fight the Orlesian Presence in the North Sourceland Continent, however, when the war truly broke out, Rivera sold their colonies to Orlais, who inherited the local military forces and fortifications and prevented any kind of advancement by AMT forces, who stood ready to violate the sovereign soil of the Riveran Colonies. In addition to this, Rivera allied with Orlais. * Orlais sold all of its Rahamran Colonies to Rivera, and also sold the rights to the Rahamran trade-routes to Rivera - it is known as the largest business deal ever concluded between two nations, in regards to the net value of exchanged items. End of Rebellion The Rebellion was crushed by Orlesian and Riveran forces when it was cut off from its allies that had promised to bring modern technology and instructions on how to use modern military arms to the technologically inferior Northerners. However, after the rebellion had been firmly defeated, the winning party found itself in serious trouble, having destabilized regions that they found they could not control, and the local populace realized that they would likely perish due to the incompetence of their new overlords, as the Sourcelands were particularly dangerous in regard to monsters and source corruption - something that was largely absent from the Westerlands during the Colonial Era. Formation of the URN The URN was formed as a compromise, when Orlais realized that it would lose its colony if local experienced government wasn't immediately restored, and when the locals realized that they could not defeat Orlais and would likely die in scores if they did not find a solution that allowed them to continue managing their settlements. This was when the URN became a member of the Orlesian Commonwealth, to be ruled by a Viceroy from Nova-Valier, but participating member being granted a seat in the senate of the URN and retaining some degree of autonomy, though their Governor. * Some rebel factions (most notably Haegvia) instead became parts of the Principality of Ardenne, which grew considerably in size, and placed itself entirely between Orlais and the Nordmarian Colony (the North-Pole). The Fifth Midland War Eventually, the AMT delivered its formal declaration of secession and soon after, the Fifth Midland War began. It was a slow war, as Orlais faced the same problem it had faced when they initially took Segovia - namely that they could not do so from the ocean, and were forced to attack from land - but the AMT had been preparing for this war for decades and had so many fortifications that the war proved particularly difficult, and ultimately, very few battles actually took place and Orlais instead found a way to prevent an alliance between the AMT and Noverra as well as Novenarra, thus cutting the AMT off entirely, and utilizing some allied Land Barons on the inside to sabotage the delicate economy of the AMT and cause a food shortage, the AMT soon had to capitulate, but were offered extremely generous terms of surrender, specifically to prevent another secession attempt in the future - and thus, the AMT became a part of the URN, becoming the largest and most powerful republic in the URN. * The world as a whole knows this war as "The Fifth Midland War", but in the Orlesian Commonwealth, it is known exclusively as the "Midland Rebellion", and so there is some general confusion when reading history books, as the 6th Midland War, that saw Novenarra become part of the URN, is known as the Fifth Midland War in the Orlesian Commonwealth. * Many have criticized the way the Fifth Midland War ended, claiming it was an overwhelming sign of weakness from Orlais' side, but others recognize the wisdom in offering a diplomatic surrender to the AMT, who were only defeated due to temporary food-shortages. It is likely that the AMT could have lasted through another winter and solved their internal problems, thus bouncing back, but by offering the fatigued faction a very favorable deal, it suddenly became a lucrative option to join the Commonwealth. The Sixth Midland War A few decades after the Fifth Midland War had ended, the Sixth Midland War ensued, and was between the URN (specifically the AMT) and Novenarra. The purpose of war was to prevent Noverra from utilizing their Novenarran Protectorate to sabotage Orlesian efforts to win the war of Skylands, and gain total control of the Midlands. This was the final Midland War, and ended with total victory of the URN, which adopted Novenarra as their newest Republic, becoming the second largest republic in the URN.